HDR Students

Current HDR students, projects and supervisors

Name	Brief summary of PhD research	Supervisors	Research Interests
Banan ALHAJAJI	My PhD research examines the acquisition of English tense and aspect, particularly the past tense and perfective aspect, by Saudi Arabic-speaking learners of English. It focuses on the development of lexical and grammatical aspects in classroom settings and investigates how priming influences learners’ performance in production tasks.	Dr Sanako Mitsugi Dr Anna Mikhaylova	Second language acquisition (SLA), with a particular focus on the acquisition of English tense and aspect by Arabic-speaking learners; the role of first language (L1) transfer in L2 development; lexical and grammatical aspect; instructed SLA; the effects of priming on L2 production; classroom-based language learning; psycholinguistic approaches to L2 tense-aspect acquisition.
Aisha ASLAM	Communicating research successfully to a wider, non-specialized audience can pose a bigger challenge than conducting the research itself. Three minute thesis (3MT) presentations are argued to have improved novice researchers'' academic presentation skills to communicate their research efficiently to a non-specialized audience. I am creating and investigating a million-word corpus of 3MTs exploring how 3MT presentation contributes towards dissemination of scientific knowledge.	A/Prof Peter Crosthwaite Dr Martin Schweinberger	Corpus Linguistics, English for Academic Purposes, Academic Presentation Skills,Teachers training in the post GenAI era, Teaching English as a Second Language
Muhammad Lukman ARIFIANTO	My research will investigate the nexus between linguistic practices, cultural frameworks, and adaptive responses amidst the escalating threat of tidal flooding in coastal communities, focussing on the Santri community in Kendal, known for its solid Islamic teachings and cultural heritage. It aims to elucidate the profound cultural interpretations embedded within linguistic practices during tidal flooding events by employing a linguistic anthropology, ethnography, and resilience theory frameworks.	A/Prof Zane Goebel A/Prof David Chapman	Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Linguistic Landscape, Discourse Analysis, Arabic Teaching and Learning
Ehdaa BARNAWI	My research focuses on written corrective feedback (WCF) and technology integration in language learning. Specifically, I'm exploring how teacher-student discussions about WCF, mediated by digital platforms (Google Docs & WhatsApp), influence students' engagement with feedback and potentially enhance their experience with developing writing skills. My approach is informed by Sociocultural Theory (SCT) in the context of Saudi Arabia.	Dr Paul Moore Dr Barbara Hanna Dr Jeanne Rolin-Ianziti	Technology-mediated feedback, writing skills development, Sociocultural
Sonia BROAD	My research looks at the dynamics of Australian literature translated into Japanese with a focus on agents and their motivations. It incorporates bibliographical data, archival data and oral interviews to map these translations across publishing spaces and cultural diplomacy interactions between Australia and Japan.	Dr Akiko Uchiyama Em/Prof David Carter	Translation studies, Australia-Japan relations, Australian and Japanese literature, cultural diplomacy, publishing and print culture, oral history
Kelly BROOKER	My PhD focuses on the culturally encoded discourse of fairy tales and how this is/not being rearticulated by modern feminist writers, specifically Helen Oyeyemi and Caitlin R Kiernan.	Dr Lucy Fraser Dr Karin Sellberg	Elizabeth Grosz, Deleuze and Guattari, Cixous, Irigaray.
Valentin CARTILLIER	I've been writing on the works of the French philosophy Louis Althusser and his concept of aleatory materialism.	Professor Greg Hainge Dr Joe Hughes	Continental philosophy, French translation
Chilmeg ELDEN	My PhD focuses on the establishment and management of interpersonal relationships between Australian and Japanese language exchange partners. It analyses video-recordings of interactions during language exchange sessions, focusing on specific pragmatic practices in the first, second, and third interactions.	Professor Michael Haugh Dr Valeria Sinkeviciute	Pragmatics, L2 pragmatics, social interaction, initial interaction, interpersonal relationships, conversational humour, Japanese discourse
Naomi FILLMORE	My PhD investigates how linguistically sustaining early education is being (re)imagined in Queensland, Australia. Using a mixed methods approach combining policy analysis, strengths-based quantitative methods, and qualitative case studies in 5 early childhood centres, I examine how language is constructed in educational policy and how educators and communities create spaces that support children's multilingualism despite systemic constraints.	Dr Samantha Disbray Dr Adriana Diaz A/Prof Marnee Shay (School of Education)	Educational linguistics; language policy and planning; bi/multilingual education; early childhood education; Indigenous education; EAL/D teaching and learning; Indigenous language revitalisation; linguistic justice.
Natalia GORECKA	My research explores the narrativisation of trauma in Polish literature, focusing on how collective and individual memory, intertwined with the politics of violence, construct cultural trauma as an unconscious mechanism of identity formation. By tracing how trauma narratives shape both personal and communal identities, the study examines the emergence of what I term an affective traumatic society—a condition in which historical trauma establishes the modus operandi and cognitive lenses through which individuals and communities perceive themselves, others, and the world. The study will explore how these enduring affective structures—rooted in historical trauma—are sustained, transmitted, and re-narrated through literature shaping collective consciousness and influencing socio-political discourses in contemporary Poland.	A/Prof Amy Hubbel Dr Sol Rojas-Lizana Dr Anna Mikhaylova	Continental philosophy, trauma and identity studies.
Orie GREEN	My research explores secondary school students' perspectives on language learning using a mixed methods approach - questionnaire and Q-methodology. It aims to investigate reasons behind the prolonged low enrolment rate of Languages as an elective subject in Queensland.	Dr Adriana Díaz Dr Barbara Hanna	Education (Secondary), Second language learning and teaching, Motivation, Language policy and ideology
Haegyeong HONG	Using the method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Visual Image Analysis (VIA) to analyse English textbooks used in North Korea (specifically Highschool textbooks) to identify embedded dominant cultural ideologies and values.	A/Prof Isaac Lee Dr Narah Lee	Critical Discourse Analysis, Visual Image Analysis, Textbook studies, Cultural studies, North Korean studies
Huahua HONG	My research investigates the validity of the Chinese External Assessment (CEA) for University admissions in Queensland secondary schools. It aims to examine whether the CEA has been designed to assess what it supposed to be assessed and its washback to Chinese learning and teaching.	Dr Wendy Jiang Dr Obaid Hamid	Second language assessment, L2 student learning motivation and Chinese as a heritage language learning and teaching in the Australian universities context
Nicholas HUGMAN	My research explores conversational humour at a broad level, focusing on theorising the underlying patterns that unify all instances of humour in conversation.	Professor Michael Haugh Dr Valeria Sinkeviciute	Pragmatics, humour studies
Topan IMAN	My research aims to look at the occurrence of overlapping talk in Bahasa Indonesian conversation by investigating the timing of the overlapping talk and how they are resolved.	Professor Ilana Mushin Dr Sanako Mitsugi	Pragmatics, Conversation Analysis
Haeng A KIM	I aim to design and validate a Curriculum-Based Dynamic Assessment (CBDA) framework underpinned by Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory while incorporating cognitive problem-solving scaffolding system to support EAL learners' metacognitive development.	Dr Noriko Iwashita Dr Paul Moore	Dynamic Assessment, Assessment as Learning, Assessment-Curriculum-Pedagogy Alignment, Assessment Validation
Zhiyi LIU	My PhD research explores the affective and deontic dimensions of relationships in Chinese family discourse through both interactional and metapragmatic lenses. It specifically examines caring practices in (grand)parent-(grand)child interactions to explore how ganging (affective/emotional connection) is intertwined with the (moral) order within the family.	Dr Valeria Sinkeviciute Dr Wei-Lin Melody Chang Professor Ping Chen	Interactional pragmatics, identity and relationship in interaction, family discourse, Chinese language discourse
Andi MIFTAHUL MAULIDIL MURSYID	My research will examine Indonesian English textbooks, including those used in public, private, public religious-based, and private religious-based schools. Employing critical discourse analysis, the research aims to explore representations of cultural and environmental issues within these textbooks.	A/Prof Isaac Lee Dr Narah Lee	Critical Discourse Analysis, Visual Image Analysis, textbook studies, TESOL, Language teaching and learning
Nissa Ilma MUKTI	My PhD research explores teachers' agency in the application of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in Indonesian universities from an ecological perspectives.	A/Prof Noriko Iwashita Dr Min Jung Jee	Second language acquisition, TESOL, language teaching and learning
Huong Tram Anh NGUYEN	My PhD research investigates the relationship between rater cognition and assessment practice, focusing on how teacher-raters in Vietnam evaluate interactive listening in oral tasks.	A/Prof Noriko Iwashita Dr Kayoko Hashimoto	second language assessment, professional development, classroom Interaction
Quy PHAM	My project explores subject-verb (SV) agreement errors in second-language (L2) learners of English across different linguistic backgrounds and language proficiencies through the use of learner corpora. The current project is the first large-scale study that investigates various syntactic, semantic, and morphological factors (and their interactions) that cause SV agreement errors. It is also the first of its kind to employ the multifactorial approach to address critical methodological issues in error analysis. Findings of the current study will significantly contribute to the current theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical discussion in the field of error analysis in particular and applied linguistics in general.	Dr Martin Schweinberger A/Prof Peter Crosthwaite	corpus linguistics, computational linguistics, research methods, statistical models.
Satria Adi PRADANA	My research seeks for the language policy used in islamic state universities in Indonesia with a focus on teachers' point of view, resistance and their ideology (curriculum, lesson planning and material development). It internalizes the impact of English and Arabic used in ISUs for internationalisation.	Dr Kayoko Hashimoto A/Prof Patrick Jory	Language policy, planning and ideology, Teaching English as Foreign Language and speaker to other languages, English for Specific Purposes.
Haira RIZKA	My research focuses on the translation of culture-specific items (CSIs) in Indonesian scholarly publication. The overarching objective of my research is to explore whether the translation of CSIs in Indonesian scholarly publications is clear enough for the target language readers.	Dr Angela Cook Dr Natsuko Akagawa	Translation studies, language and culture
Andrea RODRIGUEZ	My research examines how close relationships are interactionally accomplished in transnational family talk. I focus on holding accountable practices, such as volunteered explanations, implied criticism, and complaints, as relational devices that negotiate and surface tacit relational expectations for doing “family-at-a-distance”.	Dr Valeria Sinkeviciute Professor Michael Haugh	Interactional pragmatics, accountability, membership categorisation analysis
Endang SARTIKA	My research aims to analyse how traumatic memory of political violence in Indonesia is communicated/narrated in Indonesian novels. By focusing on gender-based violence and women authors, my research try to explore the role of literature in advocating injustices.	A/Prof Annie Pohlman A/Prof Amy Hubbell	Trauma narrative, cultural memory, memory studies
Franciele (FRAN) SPINELLI	Grounded on co-regulated learning and co-creation theoretical approaches, the overarching aim of my PhD research is to explore how academics in undergraduate humanities and business programs can support international students’ use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to co-regulate their academic language-related needs.	A/Prof Peter Crosthwaite Dr Simone Smala (School of Education)	AI in education, classroom-based research, blended learning (focus on second language learning or English for academic purposes)
Jérémy TUPPER	I’m the first to enrol in the new "Translation PhD" format (50,000-word translation + 30,000-word exegesis). My research is part of an Industry Partnership, where I’ll be translating EN/FR texts related to international policy, environmental conservation & intergovernmental organisations – with a particular focus on evaluating AI-driven computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools in professional industry settings.	Dr Angela Cook A/Prof Amy Hubbell	Translation Studies; French Studies; Domain-Specific Language; Industry Collaboration in Translation; Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) Tools; Artificial Intelligence; Environmental Policy; Intergovernmental Communication
Stefanus Igolois Grenga URAN	Using the frameworks of Digital Literacies, the Investment Model, and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), my study adopts a sequential mixed-methods design to explore how digital competencies and investment factors shape TESOL lecturers’ decisions when using GenAI, and how GenAI-driven environments influence EFL students' engagement and motivation in both rural and urban university settings in Indonesia.	A/Prof Peter Crosthwaite Dr Martin Schweinberger	AI in Education, TESOL Pedagogy
Jorien VAN BEUKERING	My PhD research investigates personal experiences of illegitimacy and mixed race heritage in individuals with family links to colonial Indonesia who were not formally recognised by their biological fathers.	A/Prof Annie Pohlman A/Prof Amy Hubbell	Dutch/Indonesian studies, migration & diaspora, trauma research, family studies, identity, Dutch Australian studies
Xiaoji WANG	My research investigates L2 Chinese learners' experience of mobile-assisted language learning, focusing on learners' satisfaction level and the influencing factors of satisfaction, as well as a case study on learners' WeChat use.	Dr Wendy Jiang Dr Angela Cook	Chinese linguistics, Technology-assisted language learning, English-Chinese translation, Intercultural business communication
Qunyi WANG	My research investigates the cultural values, ideologies, and national identity conveyed in Chinese language textbooks designed for ethnic Korean students in China.	A/Prof Isaac Lee Dr Wendy Jiang	Critical Discourse Analysis, Visual Image Analysis, textbook studies, ethnic minority education